CNOOC Starts Production at Weizhou 11-4 Oilfield Expansion Offshore China

CNOOC Limited has brought its Weizhou 11-4 oilfield adjustment and satellite fields project onstream, marking a new offshore production boost in the Beibu Gulf Basin.

CNOOC Limited (SEHK: 00883; SSE: 600938) has initiated production at the Weizhou 11-4 Oilfield Adjustment and Satellite Fields Development Project in the Beibu Gulf, adding a fresh tranche of light-crude supply from one of China’s longest-running offshore basins.

The development sits in 43 meters of water in the South China Sea and ties into nearby infrastructure, a strategy CNOOC routinely uses to reduce capital intensity and accelerate time to first oil. The project’s facilities include a new unmanned wellhead platform and a central processing platform linked by trestle bridge to an existing installation. In total, 35 wells—28 producers and seven injectors—will be drilled as production ramps toward an expected 16,900 boe/d plateau in 2026.

The Weizhou cluster is one of CNOOC’s most mature offshore assets, with successive expansions underscoring Beijing’s push to stabilize domestic crude output as demand remains robust and import dependence persists. The company’s recent offshore projects—from Bohai Bay to the South China Sea—have increasingly emphasized modular designs, digitized operations, and leveraging existing hubs to manage costs.

CNOOC holds 100% equity in the new development, which forms part of a broader coordinated scheme built around “three offshore processing centers + one onshore terminal,” allowing the company to consolidate gathering, processing, and transportation across multiple Weizhou-area fields. This hub-and-spoke model is intended to unlock remaining reserves in the Beibu Gulf while maintaining stable regional supply.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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